I assume when it says the lowest extent on record, the article is referring to the satellite record, which only goes back 30+ years.

warpseven
on September 21, 2012 7:02 AM

For actual information concerning Antarctica, which is a continent rather than a sea, perhaps some source other than an opinion columnist for Forbes magazine might be consulted. Here's one possibility:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/WorldOfChange/sea_ice_south.php

“Over the 33-year period aggregate global sea ice volumes have remained steady, but there are fluctuations between the two polar areas from year to year. The fluctuations are the result of ocean currents and wind patterns, rather than temperatures”.

Of course climate change is also the reason for the slight increase in maximum extent of sea ice around the antarctic due to the increased precipitation of snow, so it doesn't actually disprove the AGW hypothesis, but reinforces it.

Whilst some of you seem to have an almost desperate desire to feel guilty about co2, the fact is that over the coming twenty+ years it will be forgotten about as the Sun currently remains on course to lose all sunspots by 2020 at the latest. Expected to last one or more solar cycles.

All previous times of dramatically reduced sunspot activity have led to severe Northern hemisphere winters and mostly poor summers.

And so it will be then that Michael Marshall and others will discover that the promised warming power of co2 fails to deliver and they may then perhaps regret not having spent time reading sceptic websites with an open mind.

And then you will realise that global warming did not cause the Arctic ice reduction and that mankind did not cause global warming, and that co2 has already had most of the effect it's ever going to have, so far about 0.7C, the next doubling from 400 ppm to 800ppm will only add 0.45C max.

0.45C is not enough to shelter us from the expected drop in temperatures.

The only common ground sceptics and co2 fans like Michael Marshall share is that house insulation is beneficial for either outcome.

A few years ago the sun lost it's spots for two years instead of the normal one year, and we clipped record low temperatures in the UK. An ominous omen.

Back in the Antarctic, temperatures have dropped for 30 straight years in a row and this year the lowest ever temperature was recorded there.

Whatever disruption to society a little co2 might cause, non so far, other than an increased food supply, a steady slide into the next glaciation will be infinitely worse.

The only thing that really worries me is the increasing evidence that co2 may actually cause cooling rather than warming. If so then you guys would be right for the wrong reason. That would certainly be an irony.

J Martin
on September 21, 2012 7:04 PM

The hypothesis that Antarctic sea ice increases are caused by global warming lifting moist air onto the Antarctic may seem attractive as a means to explain the increasing snow levels seen there, but this jars with the steadily reducing and now record low temperatures measured there.

The sea ice increases are caused by an increased loss of heat from the ocean surrounding the Antarctic and this loss of heat is not caused by a warmer atmosphere. The water is freezing because background temperatures away from urban heat island thermometers are dropping.

The sun is expected to reach the peak of this already very low cycle in April 2013 (Leif Svalgaard) and to drop steadily thereafter. It is thought that we are benefiting from an approximate ten year lag in temperature effects courtesy of the last solar cycle which was unusually high.

The future will be cold, but no doubt co2 will still get the blame.

J Martin
on September 21, 2012 7:25 PM

The truly wondrous IPCC said in their AR4 report;

The climate change projections over the 21st century reveal that the annual mean sea ice extent decreases at similar rates in both hemispheres...

The southern ocean has been increasing in temperature quite dramatically, and the localized cooling in the antarctic is primarily due to the loss of ozone.

I realize that most global warming denialists also deny that there was ever an issue with the ozone layer, but that's a separate discussion...

TwoZeroOZ
on September 21, 2012 11:03 PM

And, because I know you'll try and find some blog saying the ozone hole doesn't exist, here is a preemptive rebuttal: http://ozonewatch.gsfc.nasa.gov/

J Martin
on September 22, 2012 5:50 PM

Two many Zero's from OZ.

If you want to talk about ozone then we can, but a reference would be nice. Presumably you don't have one so you resorted to the derogatory term 'denialist'.

You say the Southern Ocean has been heating up so are you saying you are expecting an El Nino as does James Hanson. Because if you are then you are in for a disappointment, it will be a La Nina for the third time in a row. In other words the ocean is cooling.

J Martin
on September 23, 2012 9:43 AM

A paper published in Geophysical Research Letters finds the Antarctic Peninsula has experienced a “significant accumulation” of “up to 45 meters of extra ice thickness over the past 155 years.” This finding is contrary to the claims of the highly-flawed study published by RealClimate’s Dr. Eric Steig, which alleged that the Antarctic Peninsula is rapidly warming. The finding is particularly surprising since the “significant accumulation” of ice has occurred since the end of the Little Ice Age in ~ 1850.